Pearlsong Press books

K.C. Littleton: Violet Crown: A Dr. Hedy Villarreal NovelA forty-something criminal psychologist with the vocabulary and nerd tattoos of a well-education sailor goes into protective custody at a black ops site deep in the Texas Hill Country, and quickly finds out her world is not as she thought it was.

Maria Fama: Other Nations: An Animal JournalPoems taking us into the hearts and souls of animals, who are, as naturalist Henry Beston saw them, "other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."

Lynne Murray: At LargeThe 3rd book in the Josephine Fuller mystery series finds Jo a suspect in the death of the woman who broke up her marriage.

Tracey L. Thompson: FatropolisMost of her life Jenny has felt she's not good enough, not attractive enough, because she's fat. Then one day she stumbles through a portal between a world that values thinness and one that values roundness. Sometimes falling can wake you up.

Leslie Moïse: Love is the Thread: A Knitting FriendshipSustained by the metaphor of knitting, Love is the Thread traces the way one spiritual friendship can change all our relationships. The memoir centers on the friendship between a woman snared in a lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder and another woman reweaving her life after an abusive relationship.

Lynne Murray: The Falstaff Vampire FilesSir John Falstaff is undead & misbehaving in San Francisco. Kris Marlowe doesn't believe in vampires, but when she's attacked by a horde of murderous monsters she must seek help from the most famous rogue in history.

Lynne Murray: Larger Than DeathMeet Josephine Fuller, a sleuth of size who doesn't apologize. Full-figured & full of attitude with abundant sleuthing skills, Jo takes time off from her new job and walks into a murder case. Her best friend and early role model, a plus-sized clothing designer, lies slain in her own apartment. Was she the victim of a serial killer who targets voluptuous women, or is the murder personal? In the first of a series being brought back to print -- & ebook -- Jo copes with her friend's murder, an unexpected romance and bizarre neighbors as she races to find the killer before becoming the next victim.

Lauri J Owen: Blowing EmbersBook 2 of The Embers Series (sequel to Fallen Embers) continues the saga of Kiera, transported to an alternate Alaska in which those who have the power to control the elements -- now including Kiera -- have ruled over those who cannot, including the shapeshifting indigenous peoples. The Fairbanks slaves struggle to maintain their newly won freedom, which is threatened by a force that will also shatter Kiera's heart.

Pat Ballard: Dangerous LoveNew romantic suspense from the Queen of Rubenesque Romances! Ava Manning saw some research she wasn't supposed to, and now someone wants her dead. As if that isn't complicating her life enough, she has to deal with charming LAPD detective Ricky Don McKinzie....

Karen Blomain: The Season of Lost ChildrenIn a small college town in Pennsylvania the lives of a bigamist's wife, a Polish orphan, an ex-priest and his wife -- a former nun -- and a mute teenage runaway intersect.

Charlie Lovett: The Fat Lady SingsYoung Adult fiction. Sassy, irreverent Aggie Stockdale should have gotten the lead in her high school play. But she isn't just a talented actress, writer, and athlete. She's also the fattest girl in the senior class.

Ellen Frankel: Syd ArthurLove, Laughter & Enlightenment! A middle-aged Jewish woman is soon in over her chakras as her spiritual search takes her from yoga studio to meditation hall to ashram gift store to the pages of Zensational catalogue. Her Mah Jongg group insists it's merely a midlife crisis. But nothing's going to stop Syd's journey toward Nirvana -- not even the hottest sale at Nordstrom's.

Lauri J Owen: Fallen EmbersKiera and her nephew are transported to an alternate, feudal Alaska during a strange dog's attack. The icy land is ruled by decadent mages who have enslaved the shapechanging, indigenous peoples. Kiera soon finds herself fighting -- and, to her astonishment, summoning fire. Before she can find her way home she must learn about the local systems of magic and her own powers. Kiera's path leads her deeper into Alaska, to romance, joy and heartbreak. Choosing to follow her heart may cost her everything.

Lynne Murray: Bride of the Living DeadBig, beautiful & rebellious, indie film critic Daria MacClellan is most comfortable in a monster movie poster T-shirt & blue jeans. Yet when family drama hijacks her engagement, she's trapped into a formal wedding with her perfectionist, anorexic sister, Sky, planning the whole thing. Daria adores her fiance, but her wedding seems to be spiraling into a horror film. Will the spectre of a picture perfect wedding turn her into the Bride of the Living Dead?

Rebecca Brock: The Giving SeasonTo have the life she's always dreamed of, Jessy must fight her insecurity and learn how to let Michael -- and his family -- love her just as she is.

Frannie Zellman: FatLandIn the near future the Pro-Health Laws of the United States of America have become so oppressive that people seeking freedom over their bodies have established a new country. In FatLand, life is good and scales are forbidden. Free from the hatred and discrimination of the Other Side, FatLanders have built happy, productive lives. But not everyone is flourishing.

Charlie Lovett: The ProgramA new weight loss clinic in New York City has an offer for you -- given them $5,000 and they'll make you as thin as a supermodel. You can eat whatever you want and never gain an ounce. Tempted? Fledgling journalist Karen Sumner would be -- if only she had $5,000. When Karen finally walks through the blue and gold doors of The Program, however, she's on the trail of the hottest story of her career. If she and her friends are right, The Program is doing something even worse than creating an army of unnaturally thin women. Library Journal calls The Program "a lively first novel. Highly recommended."

Linda C Wisniewski: Off Kilter: A Woman's Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, and Her Polish HeritageEven before she was diagnosed with scoliosis at 13, Linda Wisniewski felt off kilter. Born to a cruel father in the insulated Polish Catholic community of Amsterdam, New York, she learned martyrdom as a way of life. Off Kilter shows her learning to stretch her Self as well as her spine as she comes to terms with her mentally deteriorating, widowed mother and her culture. Only by accepting her physical deformity, her emotionally unavailable mother, and her Polish American heritage does she finally find balance and a life that fits. Maureen Murdock, author of Unreliable Truth: On Memoir & Memory, calls Off Kilter "a courageous, insightful book, particularly relevant for anyone who grew up feeling physically 'different.'"

Pat, Ballard: The Best ManSparks fly the night Lana Clarke meets to plan her sister's wedding -- and not just because curvaceous Lana announces she's stopped dieting and doesn't care if she's fat as maid of honor. The strong-willed sister of the bride attracts the attention of the groom's devastatingly handsome best man, Anthony Angelino. But when the sparks become flames, Lana's in trouble. Tony's first wife died mysteriously. Will Lana be next?

Judy Bagshaw: At Long Last, LoveBig beautiful --and in some cases slightly more mature -- heroines grace the pages of this collection of romantic short stories by Judy Bagshaw.

Jack Adler: Splendid SeniorsAn inspiring ensemble of 52 people whose accomplishments after age 65 remind us that creativity, passion & influence can not only flower in later years, but bear delicious fruit.

Mary Saracino: The Singing of Swans"The Singing of Swans is a remarkable narrative calling--even compelling--us to connect with our own ancestral roots, to seek our own inner wisdom, and to reclaim our own inner voices!" --Margaret Starbird, author of The Woman With the Alabaster Jar & Mary Magdalene: Bride in Exile

Ellen Frankel: Beyond Measure: A Memoir About Short Stature and Inner Growth"If you have ever measured your height or your weight and felt good or bad about yourself as a result, you need this book. In its pages, Ellen Frankel makes an important contribution to human liberation by telling the most fabulous story that can be told, the story of a person coming fully into her own. This book is thought-provoking, heart-rending, and a genuine solace for people of all sizes." --Marilyn Wann, author of FAT!SO?

Pat Ballard: Abigail's RevengeInjustice, romance and suspense smolder in a small Southern town. Romantic suspense from the Queen of Rubenesque Romances, Pat Ballard.

Pattie Thomas, Ph.D.: Taking Up Space"Thomas's incisive blend of sociological inquiry and personal narrative amounts to a provocative treatise on fat oppression in our culture. Taking Up Space is a kind of roadmap through the minefield of the 'war on obesity,' and it offers protection to the reader ready to fight for cultural change surrounding the meaning of fatness." --Kathleen LeBesco, Ph.D., author of Revotling Bodies: The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity.

Anne Richardson Williams: Unconventional Means: The Dream Down UnderShattered by family tragedy in the early 1960s, an upper-middle-class Southern teenager finds solace in art and literature. Decades later she is called to the continent whose literature once comforted her, and to a magical connection with an Aboriginal woman transcending race and half a world.

Pat Ballard: A Worthy HeirWhen Pam Spencer sees the newspaper ad seeking "a worthy heir" to Fiona Bainbridge's millions, she jumps at the chance to get her brother the medical care he needs after a job-related accident. But Reese Bainbridge, Fiona's handsome grandson--and jilted heir--rushes home in anger when he hears his grandmother has moved Pam and her brother into the family mansion. Sparks fly--and Pam is up to the challenge.

Pat Ballard: His Brother's ChildOne party, one silver-tongued, double-talking stranger intent on winning a bet, and Faith Carr ends up betrayed, alone, and pregnant. When Edward Brenner shows up on her doorstep intending to right his brother's wrongs, she's scared and vulnerable. But she agrees to marry this stranger to give the baby a father, although keeping him at a distance. She doesn't realize that Edward fell in love with her the moment he saw her. Will her battered self-esteem allow her to see the truth--and her own beauty?

Pat Ballard: Wanted: One GroomWealthy Hanna Rockwell will lose her home and her inheritance unless she marries by her 30th birthday. She's stunned when Matt Corbett, the faded rock start she worshipped in her teens, accepts her brother's offer to bail him out of financial trouble if he'll marry her. Her teenaged fantasies come to life--bringing a few surprises with them.

Pat Ballard: Nobody's PerfectNella Covington can't believe she's agreed to marry arrogant Samuel du Cannon, even if it IS only a marriage of convenience. He needs a mother for his young son, and she needs to keep her childhood home. If Sam's work keeps him on the road enough, she won't have to deal with him much. Sam's never been attracted to plus-size women, so they won't be tempted to have a real relationship. At least, that's what they keep telling themselves--

Pearlsong Press books

K.C. Littleton: Violet Crown: A Dr. Hedy Villarreal NovelA forty-something criminal psychologist with the vocabulary and nerd tattoos of a well-education sailor goes into protective custody at a black ops site deep in the Texas Hill Country, and quickly finds out her world is not as she thought it was.

Maria Fama: Other Nations: An Animal JournalPoems taking us into the hearts and souls of animals, who are, as naturalist Henry Beston saw them, "other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."

Lynne Murray: At LargeThe 3rd book in the Josephine Fuller mystery series finds Jo a suspect in the death of the woman who broke up her marriage.

Tracey L. Thompson: FatropolisMost of her life Jenny has felt she's not good enough, not attractive enough, because she's fat. Then one day she stumbles through a portal between a world that values thinness and one that values roundness. Sometimes falling can wake you up.

Leslie Moïse: Love is the Thread: A Knitting FriendshipSustained by the metaphor of knitting, Love is the Thread traces the way one spiritual friendship can change all our relationships. The memoir centers on the friendship between a woman snared in a lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder and another woman reweaving her life after an abusive relationship.

Lynne Murray: The Falstaff Vampire FilesSir John Falstaff is undead & misbehaving in San Francisco. Kris Marlowe doesn't believe in vampires, but when she's attacked by a horde of murderous monsters she must seek help from the most famous rogue in history.

Lynne Murray: Larger Than DeathMeet Josephine Fuller, a sleuth of size who doesn't apologize. Full-figured & full of attitude with abundant sleuthing skills, Jo takes time off from her new job and walks into a murder case. Her best friend and early role model, a plus-sized clothing designer, lies slain in her own apartment. Was she the victim of a serial killer who targets voluptuous women, or is the murder personal? In the first of a series being brought back to print -- & ebook -- Jo copes with her friend's murder, an unexpected romance and bizarre neighbors as she races to find the killer before becoming the next victim.

Lauri J Owen: Blowing EmbersBook 2 of The Embers Series (sequel to Fallen Embers) continues the saga of Kiera, transported to an alternate Alaska in which those who have the power to control the elements -- now including Kiera -- have ruled over those who cannot, including the shapeshifting indigenous peoples. The Fairbanks slaves struggle to maintain their newly won freedom, which is threatened by a force that will also shatter Kiera's heart.

Pat Ballard: Dangerous LoveNew romantic suspense from the Queen of Rubenesque Romances! Ava Manning saw some research she wasn't supposed to, and now someone wants her dead. As if that isn't complicating her life enough, she has to deal with charming LAPD detective Ricky Don McKinzie....

Karen Blomain: The Season of Lost ChildrenIn a small college town in Pennsylvania the lives of a bigamist's wife, a Polish orphan, an ex-priest and his wife -- a former nun -- and a mute teenage runaway intersect.

Charlie Lovett: The Fat Lady SingsYoung Adult fiction. Sassy, irreverent Aggie Stockdale should have gotten the lead in her high school play. But she isn't just a talented actress, writer, and athlete. She's also the fattest girl in the senior class.

Ellen Frankel: Syd ArthurLove, Laughter & Enlightenment! A middle-aged Jewish woman is soon in over her chakras as her spiritual search takes her from yoga studio to meditation hall to ashram gift store to the pages of Zensational catalogue. Her Mah Jongg group insists it's merely a midlife crisis. But nothing's going to stop Syd's journey toward Nirvana -- not even the hottest sale at Nordstrom's.

Lauri J Owen: Fallen EmbersKiera and her nephew are transported to an alternate, feudal Alaska during a strange dog's attack. The icy land is ruled by decadent mages who have enslaved the shapechanging, indigenous peoples. Kiera soon finds herself fighting -- and, to her astonishment, summoning fire. Before she can find her way home she must learn about the local systems of magic and her own powers. Kiera's path leads her deeper into Alaska, to romance, joy and heartbreak. Choosing to follow her heart may cost her everything.

Lynne Murray: Bride of the Living DeadBig, beautiful & rebellious, indie film critic Daria MacClellan is most comfortable in a monster movie poster T-shirt & blue jeans. Yet when family drama hijacks her engagement, she's trapped into a formal wedding with her perfectionist, anorexic sister, Sky, planning the whole thing. Daria adores her fiance, but her wedding seems to be spiraling into a horror film. Will the spectre of a picture perfect wedding turn her into the Bride of the Living Dead?

Rebecca Brock: The Giving SeasonTo have the life she's always dreamed of, Jessy must fight her insecurity and learn how to let Michael -- and his family -- love her just as she is.

Frannie Zellman: FatLandIn the near future the Pro-Health Laws of the United States of America have become so oppressive that people seeking freedom over their bodies have established a new country. In FatLand, life is good and scales are forbidden. Free from the hatred and discrimination of the Other Side, FatLanders have built happy, productive lives. But not everyone is flourishing.

Charlie Lovett: The ProgramA new weight loss clinic in New York City has an offer for you -- given them $5,000 and they'll make you as thin as a supermodel. You can eat whatever you want and never gain an ounce. Tempted? Fledgling journalist Karen Sumner would be -- if only she had $5,000. When Karen finally walks through the blue and gold doors of The Program, however, she's on the trail of the hottest story of her career. If she and her friends are right, The Program is doing something even worse than creating an army of unnaturally thin women. Library Journal calls The Program "a lively first novel. Highly recommended."

Linda C Wisniewski: Off Kilter: A Woman's Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, and Her Polish HeritageEven before she was diagnosed with scoliosis at 13, Linda Wisniewski felt off kilter. Born to a cruel father in the insulated Polish Catholic community of Amsterdam, New York, she learned martyrdom as a way of life. Off Kilter shows her learning to stretch her Self as well as her spine as she comes to terms with her mentally deteriorating, widowed mother and her culture. Only by accepting her physical deformity, her emotionally unavailable mother, and her Polish American heritage does she finally find balance and a life that fits. Maureen Murdock, author of Unreliable Truth: On Memoir & Memory, calls Off Kilter "a courageous, insightful book, particularly relevant for anyone who grew up feeling physically 'different.'"

Pat, Ballard: The Best ManSparks fly the night Lana Clarke meets to plan her sister's wedding -- and not just because curvaceous Lana announces she's stopped dieting and doesn't care if she's fat as maid of honor. The strong-willed sister of the bride attracts the attention of the groom's devastatingly handsome best man, Anthony Angelino. But when the sparks become flames, Lana's in trouble. Tony's first wife died mysteriously. Will Lana be next?

Judy Bagshaw: At Long Last, LoveBig beautiful --and in some cases slightly more mature -- heroines grace the pages of this collection of romantic short stories by Judy Bagshaw.

Jack Adler: Splendid SeniorsAn inspiring ensemble of 52 people whose accomplishments after age 65 remind us that creativity, passion & influence can not only flower in later years, but bear delicious fruit.

Mary Saracino: The Singing of Swans"The Singing of Swans is a remarkable narrative calling--even compelling--us to connect with our own ancestral roots, to seek our own inner wisdom, and to reclaim our own inner voices!" --Margaret Starbird, author of The Woman With the Alabaster Jar & Mary Magdalene: Bride in Exile

Ellen Frankel: Beyond Measure: A Memoir About Short Stature and Inner Growth"If you have ever measured your height or your weight and felt good or bad about yourself as a result, you need this book. In its pages, Ellen Frankel makes an important contribution to human liberation by telling the most fabulous story that can be told, the story of a person coming fully into her own. This book is thought-provoking, heart-rending, and a genuine solace for people of all sizes." --Marilyn Wann, author of FAT!SO?

Pat Ballard: Abigail's RevengeInjustice, romance and suspense smolder in a small Southern town. Romantic suspense from the Queen of Rubenesque Romances, Pat Ballard.

Pattie Thomas, Ph.D.: Taking Up Space"Thomas's incisive blend of sociological inquiry and personal narrative amounts to a provocative treatise on fat oppression in our culture. Taking Up Space is a kind of roadmap through the minefield of the 'war on obesity,' and it offers protection to the reader ready to fight for cultural change surrounding the meaning of fatness." --Kathleen LeBesco, Ph.D., author of Revotling Bodies: The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity.

Anne Richardson Williams: Unconventional Means: The Dream Down UnderShattered by family tragedy in the early 1960s, an upper-middle-class Southern teenager finds solace in art and literature. Decades later she is called to the continent whose literature once comforted her, and to a magical connection with an Aboriginal woman transcending race and half a world.

Pat Ballard: A Worthy HeirWhen Pam Spencer sees the newspaper ad seeking "a worthy heir" to Fiona Bainbridge's millions, she jumps at the chance to get her brother the medical care he needs after a job-related accident. But Reese Bainbridge, Fiona's handsome grandson--and jilted heir--rushes home in anger when he hears his grandmother has moved Pam and her brother into the family mansion. Sparks fly--and Pam is up to the challenge.

Pat Ballard: His Brother's ChildOne party, one silver-tongued, double-talking stranger intent on winning a bet, and Faith Carr ends up betrayed, alone, and pregnant. When Edward Brenner shows up on her doorstep intending to right his brother's wrongs, she's scared and vulnerable. But she agrees to marry this stranger to give the baby a father, although keeping him at a distance. She doesn't realize that Edward fell in love with her the moment he saw her. Will her battered self-esteem allow her to see the truth--and her own beauty?

Pat Ballard: Wanted: One GroomWealthy Hanna Rockwell will lose her home and her inheritance unless she marries by her 30th birthday. She's stunned when Matt Corbett, the faded rock start she worshipped in her teens, accepts her brother's offer to bail him out of financial trouble if he'll marry her. Her teenaged fantasies come to life--bringing a few surprises with them.

Pat Ballard: Nobody's PerfectNella Covington can't believe she's agreed to marry arrogant Samuel du Cannon, even if it IS only a marriage of convenience. He needs a mother for his young son, and she needs to keep her childhood home. If Sam's work keeps him on the road enough, she won't have to deal with him much. Sam's never been attracted to plus-size women, so they won't be tempted to have a real relationship. At least, that's what they keep telling themselves--

My Websites

November 20, 2011

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches in the U.S., publisher & psychologist Peggy Elam, Ph.D. chatted with several Pearlsong Press authors about the importance of appreciating & listening to our bodies.

Click here to listen to and/or download the 50-min recording of the November 20, 2011 Conversation, or click on the Podbean player below.

For more information about the Pearlsong Conversations series of teleconference calls, links to recordings of previous calls, and information on how you can participate in calls, go to the Pearlsong Conversations page on the Pearlsong Press website.

November 16, 2011

The Association for Size Diversity & Health has published an article describing the often-misunderstood relationship between weight-loss surgery & diabetes, as well as a series of Health At Every Size (R) tips for people living with diabetes.

In honor of American Diabetes Month (November), the Association for Size Diversity and Health has posted several new tools that connect the Health At Every Size® approach to wellness and diabetes. These tools include a new blog post by nurse and Certified Diabetes Educator Laurie Klipfel entitled, “Does Bariatric Surgery ‘Cure’ Diabetes?” and a new document by ASDAH Vice President and certified fitness instructor Jeanette DePatie entitled, “Five Health At Every Size® Tips for People with Diabetes.”

Both documents explain how a behavior-centered approach to wellness can effectively improve health outcomes without undue emphasis on weight loss. Both documents may be accessed from the ASDAH blog at: http://healthateverysizeblog.com/

Laurie Klipfel has over 20 years’ experience as a Certified Diabetes Educator and over 10 years’ experience as a nurse practitioner specializing in metabolic syndrome (diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia). She has been a member of the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) for 20 years and is past president of the St. Louis chapter of AADE.

In her blog article, Laurie discusses in great detail the common misconception that weight-loss surgery “cures” diabetes. Describing diabetes as an imbalance of insulin supply and demand, she explains that weight- loss surgery may (at least temporarily) decrease the amount of calories consumed and thus decrease the demand for insulin in the body. However, she points out that it is the change in behavior (reduced or better balanced calorie consumption), and not the change in weight, that created the health benefit.

She notes that people with diabetes do not see a change in health benefits when weight loss is achieved without behavior change (as it does in liposuction, for example). And conversely, a reduction in calorie consumption or a better balanced diet will have a positive effect on health outcomes even if a person with diabetes has lost little or no weight.

“I have had several students with diabetes in my classes,” said DePatie. “Many of these students have been able to cease insulin injections or reduce or eliminate diabetes medications simply by adding two or three hours of moderate exercise per week—even if they have lost little or no weight. That’s what inspired me to write my book and to create these Health At Every Size Tips for people with diabetes.”

The Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) has created these tools promoting a Health At Every Size (HAESSM) approach to diabetes for a number of reasons. One primary reason is to clarify that the Health At Every Size approach does not only apply to people already in perfect health.

“Many people define health as merely the absence of disease, but at ASDAH we see health as multidimensional and personal,” says ASDAH president Deb Lemire. “That means you can treat disease without initiating a panic over weight or body size. It means bringing a behavior-centered approach to wellness in whatever your current circumstances. It means approaching wellness from a place of cooperating with your body instead of seeing it as an enemy.”

The understanding that one need not be “in perfect health” in order to apply the HAES principles will be an important focus for ASDAH moving forward. Thus ASDAH has committed to creating a series of tools to help those with an illness understand how to implement the HAES principles.

“It can be especially difficult to remain calm and follow the HAES model when you are ill. But we want the world to understand that the Health At Every Size approach is for everybody,” said Lemire.

About ASDAH

The Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) is an international professional organization which began in 2003. It is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit organization whose diverse membership is committed to the Health At Every Size® (HAES) principles.

The HAES movement is a continuously evolving alternative to the weight-centered approach to treating people of all sizes. It aims to promote size acceptance, end weight discrimination, and lessen the cultural obsession with weight loss and thinness. You can learn more about ASDAH and the HAES SM principles at www.sizediversityandhealth.org or by subscribing to ASDAH’s blog at www.healthateverysizeblog.com.

Ed. Note: ASDAH trademarked the "Health At Every Size" term in order to prevent the weight loss industry from coopting & misusing it, as the industry has done with other nondieting/size acceptance terminology.